Sealink up to Nariman Point named after Rajiv Gandhi

The state government has decided to name not just the Bandra-Worli sealink but the entire bridge up to Nariman Point after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The only hitch is that the bridge from Worli to Nariman Point does not exist and the government is yet to decide whether it wants to build the Haji Ali to Nariman Point sealink.

A government resolution issued on Wednesday said the complete sealink — Bandra-Worli, Worli-Haji Ali and Haji Ali-Nariman Point — will be called the Rajiv Gandhi sealink.

But the Worli-Haji Ali project is yet to take off with the state government still undecided on whom to give the contract. The Haji Ali-Nariman Point project is also in cold storage as the government is unclear on whether it should opt for a sea link or an underground tunnel.

At the inauguration of the Bandra-Worli sealink on June 30, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar had called for naming the bridge after the late prime minister.

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had readily agreed.

It had generated a political controversy with the Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party opposing the naming of the sea bridge after Gandhi.

The saffron combine wants it to be named after either freedom fighters Veer Savarkar, Baba Genu or social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule.